South Wind Novel Novels & Stories

Dean held his phone, frozen in place as the dial tone buzzed, sounding almost like the abrupt halt of his own heartbeat. A wave of crushing disappointment and panic swept through him. Autumn in Lindt was bleak with grey skies, endless rain, and the kind of chill that seeped into one’s bones. It mirrored exactly how Jake felt at that moment. For months, he had been relentless, like a tireless dog, throwing every trick he could think of into the chase—pursuing, cornering, and never letting up.

Outside, the wind rattles the trees, shaking loose the first of the autumn leaves. Finally, Josh exhales and steps back. “Forget that for now, Ari,” he says, voice softer now. “It’s too early in the season for this.” I nod, holding my phone tight against my chest. As he leaves, closing the door behind him, saying nothing and everything all at once. I let the wind carry the weight of everything—the missing summers, the distance, the cracks forming between us, the unspoken promises. Autumn has begun, and everything feels like it’s falling. But maybe… just maybe… Some roots, some seasons, are strong enough to survive it.

Sam stood silent by the sedan,“No devices past here.” I shook my head. “Nothing left to burn.” Freedom needs no signal. Twelve hours of sun. A vampire’s grave. My sanctuary. I adjusted the strap of my medical case—empty yesterday, full of purpose today. This heat doesn’t blister me. It fuels me. These children don’t see a vampire. They see hope. I stepped onto the cracked earth, and took the first breath of my new life. Not running from him. Running toward them. New York. The ceremony.

I felt my heart fill with love as I looked at Mavis' resolute profile. Richard watched us with a relieved look, tears glistening in his eyes. Nearby, Tyler giggled, full of innocent joy. The gentle mountain breeze brushed past us, carrying the scent of earth. In the distance, the mountains stood tall, shrouded in mist. We stood at the entrance to the village, basking in the warm sunlight. At that moment, happiness felt simple.

How idealistic of him. As for the house he mentioned? It was just a worthless secondhand house. Besides, Riverpolis had been shifting its economic center to the south over the past few years, which caused the houses in my area to fall. That house was really not worth that much money. He wanted to use my money to get himself a good reputation? This was a great plan, and it was clear that he was not the one who thought about it. I looked toward Joy, and she was startled. I could see the excitement she did not manage to hide.

Joseph felt the wind knocked out of him as he heard the whistle followed by the loudest sound he's ever heard in all his 16 years under the Tau Ceti sun. A whiz and BOOM. Whiz and BOOM. Explosion after explosion came pummeling down onto them. An unending barrage of terrifying heat and sound and fireball crashed all around them. Joseph covered his face as clods of disturbed earth pelted and rained down on him. His screams were drowned out by the loud thunders. It went on forever. Until it didn't. Then it stopped. He heard nothing afterwards except the constant ringing in his ear.

And went back out. The South didn’t come. The storm was too big. And even men with steel knew better than to fight snow. Weeks passed. The cold stayed, but the house stayed warm. And Thea learned how to be tired and still laugh. And Kael learned how to hold a baby and chop wood in the same day. They didn’t make announcements. People just knew. Rowan was here. And he was theirs. And he was the North’s. And that was enough.

They sat in the hotel room — Don with his notebook, Ernest with the journal — and inhabited the indoor Bergen that was also Bergen, the Bergen that had been inhabited indoors for two hundred rainy days a year for however many years the city had been a city. The rain on Sunday was not the gentle rain of English springs — the kind of rain that seemed almost apologetic, that fell as if it were sorry for the inconvenience. The rain on Sunday was the rain of the North Sea in winter: driven by wind, horizontal at times, striking the windows with the force of something that had traveled a long distance and had not lost its velocity in the travel.

She could feel the worms wriggling in her heart, the squirming of the worms made her stomach queasy. However, her attention was suddenly diverted as a gust of cold wind swept across her face, and blew her long hair. The gust of wind carried voices whispering in her ear, not the whispers of the surrounding leaves, but other whispers that she could understand. Leah looked left and right, it seemed that no one felt the gust of wind and whispers except for her. Even Mia and Grace who were standing so close to her didn't feel what she felt. The whisper called her name, she was sure. Not the sound of the wind, or the voices in her head, someone called her name

Another violent explosion. Rain poured down in sheets, extinguishing the fire, but the mansion was still smoking under the storm. Rescue workers and search dogs combed through the debris. They were searching for Ivy's body. Yes, body. After all, no one was surviving that kind of fire and explosion. In the distance, Jason stood in the rain with blood running down his face, ignoring the doctor trying to pull him away. He waited for the verdict. "Over here!" A rescuer’s shout immediately lit up the light in his eyes. He dragged his stiff body and rushed as quickly as he could.